Bravo! I was horrified by the 17 pounds of catalog left at my door, as were my young kids who struggled to understand the extreme waste of natural resources. It seems as though Restoration Hardware thought they would get positive attention for delivering a huge pile (...) to people's doorsteps.

Posted by Dupi
a resident of Portola Valley: Westridge
on Jun 19, 2014 at 12:29 pm

Bravo! Luckily, I didn't have to cart the mega-mailing up my driveway. My sweet neighbor had her recycling cans out and I just walked over and dumped them in. I was appalled at the size of that paper-catalog delivery when every retail store makes us pay for bags. Sadly, since it is almost July, we all can expect a flood of retail catalogs in our mail as the Christmas Consumption season starts. Bah-Shopping Humbug!

Posted by pearl
a resident of another community
on Jun 19, 2014 at 12:37 pmpearl is a registered user.

When I receive catalogs in the mail, I tear off the address label and return it to the company, telling them I only order via online; that I no longer shop from paper catalogs. And, to remove my name/address from their mailing list. It works more often than not. It usually takes a month or two for them to remove your name from their mailing list. You can also email them, asking that they not send you any more catalogs, but then they have your email address! Lol...

Posted by MD
a resident of another community
on Jun 19, 2014 at 12:57 pm

Imagine the size of the stack Pottery Barn's catalogs would create. I have spent precious time on the phone with PB, and many other catalog companies, asking them to please take me off of their mailing list. They have agreed to, but I am still receiving catalogs! How can this wasteful practice be stopped?? We don't want these catalogs and so we recycle them. Throwing this stuff away just turns my stomach.

Thank you Nancy Reyering for spearheading this! I sure hope that if RH goes green, others will follow.

My unwrapped stack of RH are going back as soon as I can find the time to drive into PA. The only thing I've ever purchased from them were stocking stuffers.

Not sure if correct, but this is from "Green@Work"...

* ...one ton of coated, higher-end virgin magazine paper (used for magazines like National Geographic and many others) uses a little more than 15 trees (15.36); and one ton of coated, lower-end virgin magazine paper (used for news magazines and most catalogs) uses nearly eight trees (7.68).

The app "PaperKarma" has been very helpful for me in unsubscribing to catalogs -- you take a picture and they unsubscribe on your behalf. It doesn't work for every vendor, but 4 out of 5, I never seem again. Damn you, Bonobos!!

That said, I too don't understand how this can be a default advertising tactic in this day & age. So wasteful...

Posted by pearl
a resident of another community
on Jun 19, 2014 at 1:28 pmpearl is a registered user.

TO "MD" ~

If I am still receiving a company's catalogs one or two months after I have asked them to remove my name from their mailing list, then I sit down and type them a 36-point bolded font note laced with sarcasm and expletive-deletives, telling them in no uncertain terms to remove me from their mailing list.

That usually does it. Of course, if you have a post office box, as I do, you can just sort your mail right there in the post office lobby, tossing catalogs and junk mail in the post office trash can! ; )

Posted by misha
a resident of Woodside: Emerald Hills
on Jun 19, 2014 at 2:16 pm

I recycled my pile right away then unsubscribed on the RH website and also sent them an email expressing my outrage at their marketing & informing them I would not shop at their stores. Actually I never have shopped there, but they were just blanketing wealthier zip codes. Recently my neigborhood has suffered new phone books in plastic sacks tossed by the driveways of each home. Many people just leave them where they land - I guess as a protest, but the delivery companies won't come back to retrieve them so we are left with all this unsightly & unwanted phone book litter. catalogchoice.org has worked for me to stop unwanted catalog mail. The problem is every time you buy something online you get put on another mailing list unless you manage to uncheck the box to opt out.

Posted by pearl
a resident of another community
on Jun 19, 2014 at 2:41 pmpearl is a registered user.

"...they were just blanketing wealthier zip codes." Well, no WONDER I've never received an RH catalog! I guess that's the upside of living at the poverty level on Social Security, thereby having the "wrong" Zip Code! Lol... ; )

Posted by FYI-INCENSED
a resident of another community
on Jun 19, 2014 at 3:11 pm

I called UPS to find out about their refusal/return policy for unsolicited items. ANY unsolicited package can be refused at time of delivery or returned within 5 business days. The package must be "unopened and identical" condition as received. In the case where it is not refused immediately, you can call the main UPS number (1-800-742-5877) and speak to customer service (to get past the regular automated telephone labyrinth, press 0 rather than other options). UPS will arrange to pick up the package.

NORMALLY, a refused package is shipped back to the sender at the SENDER'S expense, but I was told that, in this particular case, Restoration Hardware has a special, unusual agreement in their contract to NOT have the shipments returned to them but they will still be CHARGED for the return. Also they assured me that the package will be recycled, rather than trashed. In my case, although it is beyond 5 business days since delivery, UPS has arranged to pick it up tomorrow. Perhaps they will do the same for others who call. This way, at least RH will suffer some financial penalty for their irresponsible action.

Posted by Mary
a resident of another community
on Jun 19, 2014 at 3:38 pm

BRAVO! We did some coordinated returning last Saturday but nothing near the 2,000 lb mark. The store employees do seem to be on the front lines of this campaign and I do not envy them. However, as the last user stated ~ people continuing to shop there means the cataLOGS will continue to appear. The CEO does not seem apologetic in any of the quotes I've seen so far. The company is expected to roll out a number of new stores in the future and that will be a critical time. Please join the conversation on Facebook as well ~ Web Link

Posted by hr
a resident of another community
on Jun 19, 2014 at 3:41 pm

My thing is that they invested over $5 million into publishing these. I like to think of all the people who got a piece of that. Even the fuel used to return them, the dolly to haul them, the news talking about it, etc. all helped those who are making a living. I still miss my Sears and Montgomery Wards catalogs. Do these people really think that forests are being destroyed? Or, are they just angry because they did not ask for this catalog? How hard is it to just throw in the blue tub and be done? No matter how much I despise junk mail, I still know it is creating and maintaining jobs. If RH wants to do that, more power to them and the people making a living from them. Beats not working at all and becoming dependent on others for support.

Posted by Carole
a resident of another community
on Jun 19, 2014 at 4:02 pm

Thanks Nancy and other south bay volunteers for doing this! There is outrage around the SF area about the RH cataLOGS and Direct Mail waste. Thanks to the donors of 60+ RH catalogs in the East Bay, a small group of us returned 90,000 lbs of waste to the SF store last Saturday. As with Nancy's group, the RH staff was ready and waiting, with a white panel van standing by. As we tried to stack our catalogs on the sidewalk for a photo op, the RH staff whisked them away into the waiting van, to minimize the photo op. Video and pictures are posted on Twitter under @Carole_Parker and #DeforestationHardware. Also -- my 11 year old's video of our event is posted here: Web Link. Also, an artist in Marin is making a tree sculpture out of the cataLOGs. Claire Morris, a Tamalpais Valley artist, recently put out a call for RH cataLOGS that she plans to turn into a sculpture. If you want to contribute your cataLOGS, you can e-mail her at clairemorrisdesign@gmail.com. If you can't return or reuse your cataLOG, then recycle it. And here's a few more things you can do: 1) Opt out of receiving new cataLOGS at the RH site (Web Link) or by signing up with catalogchoice.org (Web Link) 2) petition RH to stop the cataLOGS here: Web Link... and 3) vote with your pocketbook by not shopping at RH!

Posted by URGENT! NBC News Story on the catalogs
a resident of another community
on Jun 19, 2014 at 4:39 pm

Hello neighbors: I'm with NBC Bay Area news and we're doing a story on these huge catalogs for TONIGHT's 11pm newscast. We'd love to interview you today if you received the catalog or participated in yesterday's return of the catalog to the Palo Alto store. The story will air tonight on NBC Bay Area. Please give me a call on my cell if you can participate in our story regarding these catalogs (and from the forum discussion here, I can see that people have strong opinions!) My cell is: 408-726-3165. Thank you - Peggy Bunker, Anchor/Reporter, NBC Bay Area News

Posted by Jim A
a resident of Menlo Park: other
on Jun 19, 2014 at 7:27 pm

Now going to the extra effort to drive around, collect then transport these back to the store is not exactly environmentally friendly - it's selfish advocacy, or just plain bitchy. I expect your local trash service already provides recycling services, which your community could use and not waste fuel and traffic load for your message. (even if you have a hybrid, cute, but it gets electrons from someplace...) Oh I know, you're bored and need a sense of purpose, and a regular dose of 15-seconds of fame... maybe you could drive to Sacramento and protest political/familial corruption, but then you probably don't care about taking and wasting OUR tax dollars to popularly voted crooks, rail against free enterprise instead... drive more business out of California... that works.

Posted by Carole
a resident of another community
on Jun 20, 2014 at 8:51 am

Peggy, see also this FB page for news about what other communities are doing -- especially in LA and East Bay: Web Link

And yes Jim A, you miss the point: it is to encourage RH and other Direct Mailers to figure out more environmentally-friendly -- and business-friendly -- ways of doing business by limiting number/size of DM, practicing good hygiene with mailing lists, and honoring opt in or opt out requests.

Posted by Nancy
a resident of Woodside: other
on Jun 20, 2014 at 8:53 am

Thank you for sharing this status with your local networks. This problem isn't just local, and it isn't just about Restoration Hardware, but we have momentum and need to keep the pressure on the story. Our message is important: LET'S END JUNK MAIL. We are asking that retailers adopt a strict Opt-IN only strategy, rather than mass-target every mailbox with their marketing.

Posted by Karen
a resident of Menlo Park: other
on Jun 20, 2014 at 9:08 am

I was furious when I received this 17 pound bunch of junk in the mail. I thought of returning them to the store but did not want to waste my time- bravo to those who did. I did recycle the catalogue and immediately called RH to cancel future deliveries. According to the CEO of RH who was on Jim Cramer's show yesterday, they did not receive too many complaints- well, your action contradicts that statement. Again, BRAVO!!!!!

Posted by Carole
a resident of another community
on Jun 20, 2014 at 12:24 pm

Yes, it is a national issue -- even international; the cataLOGS were delivered in Canada too. And the campaign is already having an impact. This is quote from CNBC interview with RH CEO Gary Friedman today:

"Friedman also agreed that the concept of the such huge catalogues and sending them to people all around was not a very good idea and he said they are looking into such issues and trying to better them."

Jim A. - The solution to this is not to simply give business what it wants. It is to encourage business people to use their imaginations.

Business education and training may not place a premium on imagination -- advertising being the exception -- but it is no longer acceptable for a major corporation to be given a pass if they make an effort that the corporate world considers to be in good faith.

The corporate world is not the world. It is completely justifiable to be outraged at the practice -- and the tortured logic! -- at work in this case. The bottom line IS NOT AND CANNOT BE the end all and be all of running a business.

If a corporation wants to be given the benefit of the doubt, it needs to act in good faith as good faith is widely understood, not some twisted logic that ignores the important interests of the community.

Posted by Spunkie
a resident of Portola Valley: other
on Jun 21, 2014 at 10:52 pm

I was there when the UPS truck came and I tried to refuse delivery face to face. The driver said they could not return it and had to deliver it. Maybe UPS wasn't going to send it back to RH but I'll make sure our local driver knows he can't impose this stuff on us.

My husband recycled it before I could join the PV protest.

Jim A: remember, lots of PV residents have EVs and meet at the shopping center anyway. Collecting the catalogs was another thing that helps maintain the web of community that makes this town so wonderful! Net benefit for us: it wasn't bored and snarky, it was fun.

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